With iOS 11, More Options to Disable Touch ID Means Better Security

With iOS 11, More Options to Disable Touch ID Means Better Security

When iOS 11 is released to the public next week, it will bring a new feature with big benefits for user security. Last month, some vigilant Twitter users using the iOS 11 public beta discovered a new way to quickly disable Touch ID by just tapping the power button five times. This is good news for users, particularly those who may be in unpredictable situations with physical security concerns that change over time.

The newly uncovered feature is simple. Tapping an iPhone power button rapidly five times will bring up an option to dial 9-1-1. After a user reaches that emergency services screen, Touch ID is temporarily disabled until they enter a passcode. In other words, you can call emergency services without unlocking the phone—but then your fingerprint can’t unlock it.

This is a big improvement on previously known and relatively clunky methods for disabling Touch ID, including restarting the phone, swiping a different finger five times to force a lock-out, or navigating through settings to disable it manually.

Not About Law Enforcement

While there is some speculation that this feature is intended to defeat law enforcement—with some going as far as to call it a “cop button”—it is, at its core, a common-sense security feature. The option to disable Touch ID quickly and inconspicuously is helpful for any user who needs more choices and flexibility in their physical security. Think about all the situations where a user might be worried that someone will unexpectedly force them to unlock their phone: a mugging, domestic abuse from a partner or parent, physical harassment or stalking, bullying. Even the fact that the feature is activated alongside an option to quickly call 9-1-1 links it to a whole range of emergency situations in which law enforcement is not already present.

Constitutional Bonus

Even though this new feature is not aimed at law enforcement, it brings a potentially unintended side effect: now when you used Touch ID, you’re not giving up your Fifth Amendment rights. The Fifth Amendment of course gives us the right to remain silent in interactions with the government. In legalese, we say that it provides us a right to be free from compelled self-incrimination. EFF has long argued that the Fifth Amendment protects us from having to turn over our passwords. But the government, and a number of digital law scholars such as EFF Special Counsel Marcia Hofmann, have suggested that our fingerprints may not have such protection, and some courts have agreed. With today’s announcement, we no longer have to choose between maintaining our Fifth Amendment right to refuse to unlock our phones and the convenience of Touch ID.

We call on other manufacturers to follow Apple’s lead and implement this kind of design in their own devices.

BOSTON — The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU today asked a federal court to rule without trial that the Department of Homeland Security violates the First and Fourth Amendments by searching travelers’ smartphones and laptops at airports and other U.S. ports of entry without a warrant.The request...

It’s hard to talk about the vulnerabilities in cellular technology without increasing the amount of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. There is already much uncertainty around cell-site simulators (CSS, aka Stingrays), their capabilities, and how widely they are used. Partly this is because of the veil of secrecy that has...

EFF and more than 100 civil society organizations across the globe wrote directly to Mark Zuckerberg recently demanding greater transparency and accountability for Facebook content moderation practices. A key step, we told Facebook, is implementation of a robust appeals process giving all users the power to challenge and...

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) launched a virtual reality (VR) experience on its website today that teaches people how to spot and understand the surveillance technologies police are increasingly using to spy on communities.“We are living in an age of surveillance, where hard-to-spot cameras capture our faces and...

On Wednesday, most cell phones in the US received a jarring alert at the same time. This was a test of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, also commonly known as the Presidential Alert. This is an unblockable nationwide alert system which is operated by Federal Emergency Management Agency (*not*...

The Supreme Court should recognize and give teeth to the critical, privacy-protecting limitations Congress placed on wiretaps, EFF told the court in an amicus brief we filed with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. When law enforcement officials wiretap someone’s cell phone, the law doesn’t allow them...

Since first appearing on the streets of New York City in 2016, LinkNYC’s free public Wi-Fi kiosks have prompted controversy. The initial version of the kiosks’ privacy policy was particularly invasive: it allowed for LinkNYC to store personal browser history, time spent on a particular website, and lacked clarity...

Mass arrests that sweep up journalists — enabling police and prosecutors to collect electronic evidence they might not otherwise have access to — threatens the independence of the press, said Stephanie Lacambra, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF has been working with Jan. 20 arrestees to...